14.9.14

A weekend of final summer picnics and just being. We ate well, too well taking regular pauses for cake and hot coffee and by Sunday night I felt like slurping cleansing pho.

Beef Vietnamese Pho

2 litres
hot beef stock

4cm piece
fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

1 star
anise

1 cinnamon
stick

5 cloves

5 tbsp
fish sauce

1 hot red chilli,
finely sliced

225g rice
noodles

400g rump
or sirloin steak

Large
handful each of beansprout

100g mange
tout, finely sliced

Chopped
fresh coriander

Fresh Thai
basil

1 Pour 2 litres good-quality fresh beef
stock into a pan and dilute with cold water to taste. Add the ginger, star anise,
cinnamon stick, cloves, fish sauce and the finely sliced red chilli. Bring the broth to the boil, then simmer over a
low heat for 30 minutes.

2 Meanwhile empty the dry noodles into
large bowl and pour over boiling water. Allow them to sit for 3-4 minutes. Then
drain.

3 Add the beef to the beef broth and allow
it to poach for 2-3 minutes.

4 Empty a portion of
noodles in the bottom of a large bowl. Add the sliced mange tout and
beansprouts and ladle over the beef broth. Garnish to taste with fresh thai
basil, coriander and sliced red chili.

2.9.14

Tiny black chia seeds are creating a bit of a buzz - they are
the brand new superfood don’t you know?! We’re told that whilst providing
hardly any calories they contain stacks of health benefits ranging from being high in fibre,
omega-3 and protein and also containing antioxidants, potassium and calcium.

Once a dietary staple of the Aztec and Mayan people, chia seeds were
originally ground into a flour and used to make flatbread, or soaked in water
for a drink. When soaked the seeds expand in size and take on a strange gel-like,
frog’s spawny appearance. This drink, which is high in fibre, is also very
filling and (it has been suggested) could dramatically help with loosing dress
size or two. Alternatively you could sprinkle over your breakfast cereal and
the seeds will expand in the stomach, keeping one feeling fuller for longer.

Weight loss aside these seeds are without doubt an incredible
source of fibre and omega 3 so absolutely worth having a bag or two in your
cupboard.

BANANA & CHIA SEED LOLLY

This one is easy. Simply whiz up ripe banana’s
and mix with a tablespoon or so of Greek yoghurt and 1 tbsp chia seeds. Dollop
the mixture into lolly moulds and place sticks in the center. Freeze overnight.
Mine made 6 little lollies.

CELERIAC & CHIA SEED CUPCAKE

Makes 16 cakes

Ingredients

200g plain
flour

1 teaspoon
baking powder

1 teaspoon
salt

1 teaspoon
ground ginger

2 teaspoon
chia seeds

3 medium
eggs

200g caster
sugar

200ml
vegetable oil

2 teaspoons
good-quality vanilla extract

250g grated
fresh celeriac

For the lemon buttercream

80g unsalted
butter, at room temperature

250g sifted
icing sugar

1 teaspoon
vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon
fine salt

zest of one
lemon

2
tablespoons milk, or enough for the frosting to reach a piping consistency

Fresh lemon
zest, for decoration

1. Preheat
oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4. Line a muffin tin with paper cases. Add
the flour, baking powder, salt and ginger into a large bowl and set aside.

2. Using a
mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla on medium speed until fully
combined. Reduce to low speed and add in the grated celeriac. Now slowly add
the flour mixture until well combined.

3. Fill each
muffin case quite high, about two thirds full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until
a skewer inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Place on a wire
rack to cool for 10 minutes, then take each muffin out and cool completely
before icing.

4. Beat the butter until light and fluffy and
slowly add the icing sugar. Once combined, and with the food-processor on low, add in the vanilla extract, lemon zest, chia seeds, salt
and milk. The consistency
should be creamy but still thick. Beat the mixture
on medium high for a further 2–3 minutes. The icing should
become very light and fluffy.

5. Pipe the buttercream
onto your cooled muffins and top with lemon zest and chia seeds.